Top Interview Questions

Donal Hanrahan, at BDO Recruitment, helps prepare you for some of the most commonly asked interview questions.Here is what Donal has to say:

Remember that you are being interviewed because the interviewer needs to hire somebody; not because they want to catch you out or embarrass you. They are seeking out your strong and weak points, evaluating you on your qualifications, skills and intellectual qualities and will probe deeply to determine your attitudes, aptitudes, stability, motivation and maturity. Being prepared are the basics; being able to deliver is critical.

Competency Interviewing

Competency based questions will ask you to demonstrate your skills/experience and answer in a structured way. Past performance is one of the tools used by recruiting professionals to measure applicant’s responses to selected questions. Your responses will determine the level of detail they will probe for in additional questions that they will ask. Being prepared for these questions at interview reveals your individual personality traits and is a great help for interviewers interested in finding out how you may act if employed.

Tell me about yourself. What is your background?

What do you know about our company?

Why did you decide to seek a position with this company?

What interests you about our company?

Why should we hire you?

Why do you think you’re the right person for this job?

What unique qualities or abilities would you bring to this job? Could you give me an example of how you displayed each of these qualities in your current job? In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company?

What aspects of your previous experience do you think will be most helpful to you in this role? Is there any unique experience that would be likely to be of benefit to you in this position.

What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Tell me about a time that you failed at something, and what you did afterwards?

What major problems have you encountered and how did you deal with them?

Are you a team player? Describe a time when you worked on a team project. What was your relative position on the team? Were you satisfied with your contribution? How could it have been better?

How do you work under pressure? Give an example of how you dealt with it? How do you typically behave when a deadline is approaching?

How do you react to criticism / conflict?

What has been the biggest disappointment in your career to date?

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Describe your first week in the job if you are successful.

Why do you wish to leave your current position?

If you had a magic wand what one thing would you change about your present job circumstances?

What was the last thing/person that made you very annoyed?

How would your fellow workers describe you?

What would you hope to achieve in the first 12 months?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What do you see as the next step in your career?

Why did you choose your college and course of study?

What other types of jobs or companies are you considering?

Why have you applied for this particular position? Why do you want to work here?

What do you know about this job?

What do you understand to be the main objectives of this position?

What salary are you expecting?

When are you available for work?

What do you do in your spare time?

How would you describe yourself?

Tell me about yourself. What is your background?

What do you know about our company?

Why did you decide to seek a position with this company?

What interests you about our company?

Why should we hire you?

Why do you think you’re the right person for this job?

What unique qualities or abilities would you bring to this job? Could you give me an example of how you displayed each of these qualities in your current job? In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company?

What aspects of your previous experience do you think will be most helpful to you in this role? Is there any unique experience that would be likely to be of benefit to you in this position.

What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Tell me about a time that you failed at something, and what you did afterwards?

What major problems have you encountered and how did you deal with them?

Are you a team player? Describe a time when you worked on a team project. What was your relative position on the team? Were you satisfied with your contribution? How could it have been better?

How do you work under pressure? Give an example of how you dealt with it? How do you typically behave when a deadline is approaching?

How do you react to criticism / conflict?

What has been the biggest disappointment in your career to date?

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Describe your first week in the job if you are successful.

Why do you wish to leave your current position?

If you had a magic wand what one thing would you change about your present job circumstances?

What was the last thing/person that made you very annoyed?

How would your fellow workers describe you?

What would you hope to achieve in the first 12 months?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What do you see as the next step in your career?

Why did you choose your college and course of study?

What other types of jobs or companies are you considering?

Why have you applied for this particular position? Why do you want to work here?